Their Last Resort
by melissawtf
Summary: In an attempt to save Skye's life, agent Coulson and The Bus crew get directed to Stark Tower after Director Fury vouches for one Caroline Forbes. Secrets get outed, a scuffle breaks out, and a new friendship is formed. Part 2 of 3.


**Author's Note: To be read after "Young Blood" so you know why TVD's Caroline Forbes is in here.**

**I've recently watched Season 1 of Agent's of Shield and fell in love. Although, I gotta say I'm pretty upset that I fell in love with Agent Ward only to find out he's the bad guy -_-**

**Seeing 1X14 of AoS got me thinking that if they had never found "the cure" to administer Skye or Fury was really dead set against Coulson going back to the Guest House, Fury would have sent him to the only person he knew that could actually save her without any consequence. So, here's an AU of 1X14 of AoS (with Ward not being Hydra) that's going to crossover with the Avengers and Vampire Diaries' Caroline Forbes ;) **

**Also, I apologize in advance for the AoS characters being OOC. This is my first time writing for them.**

* * *

It was a seemingly normal work day for Pepper and Caroline, the two women having lunch in Caroline's office and relaxing for once after the week they had.

For the first time since Caroline had been together with Steve, the Avengers were called in to suit up and travel halfway around the world to take on some self-righteous scientists and their ray guns of destruction. It took them a day and a half- a day and a half that Pepper and Caroline spent freaking out- and then the team was on their way back home with only minor injuries.

Steve and Bruce had both refused treatment because they'd heal on their own within the next couple of days, Tony let Pepper fuss over him because he liked being fussed over by his beautiful girlfriend, and Caroline nearly forced her blood down both Clint and Natasha's throats because they were the only two with fractures and a broken bone here and there. But in the end, with Clint's wrist broken and Natasha cringing too much because of her ribs, they reluctantly drank Caroline's blood and then locked themselves away in their respective rooms to wait out the vampire blood leaving their system.

So with everyone healed up and the two assassins/agents now back to sparring in their free time without fear of fatally injuring the other and waking up in transition, Caroline and Pepper can finally breathe and enjoy their lunch.

Well, that is until the building itself starts to vibrate and knock things over.

"What's going on?!" Caroline squeaks, grabbing ahold of their drinks so it doesn't splash all over her desk.

"I- I don't know," Pepper answers fearfully. "JARVIS?"

"_It appears that Director Fury has sent some of his agents to the Tower in hopes of saving one of their own," _the A.I answers. _"They are attempting to land what appears to be a modified Boeing C-17 Globemaster atop the Tower."_

"What?!" Pepper exclaims. "But that's one of the biggest air crafts there is! It won't fit atop the tower!"

"_That's what Sir Stark has proclaimed as well but the pilot seems most determined."_

"Huh," Caroline huffs, calming down since they're not under attack. "Should we go check out what the commotion is about?"

Taking a moment to collect herself, Pepper reluctantly shakes her head. "No. No, let's just stay put. We don't need to crowd them at the moment."

Seconds tick by, the building stops quaking in place, and Caroline relaxes back in her chair.

"_Miss Caroline, your presence has been requested in the medical wing. Immediately!"_

"Screw this," Pepper jumps to her feet. "Let's go!"

**XxX**

The elevator door hasn't even opened on their designated floor, and all ready, Caroline is warning Pepper.

"I hear raised voices," she tells the CEO as she tucks the loose strands of hair behind her ear. "Clint and Tony seem really pissed off. Be prepared to run and intervene."

Pepper nods, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she nervously chews. The second the doors open, she and Caroline are running as fast as they can in the heels adorning their feet. In the last glass room at the end of the hall, there appears to be an unconscious girl lying in a hospital bed that's been intubated, and a gaggle of people situated around her and arguing.

Caroline easily recognizes the catsuit belonging to S.H.I.E.L.D that an elder chinese woman is wearing, as well as the black tactical gear on the tall and lean dark-haired man who appears to be very worried about the girl in the bed. There are two nerdy looking additions, the curly-haired man practically looking on in awe at Tony and the woman casting wary glances at Banner who's subtly keeping an eye on his own pulse with all the yelling going on.

But the man who seems to have earned Tony, Steve, Clint, and Natasha's anger is an elder man in a gray suit who keeps asking for Miss Forbes- that Director Fury sent them here because it was their last resort in hopes of saving Skye, the women who was on life support.

Tony and Clint are yelling about lies, and deceit; and the man in the suit is close to yelling- but not really- that they have time to talk later. Not now.

Steve's jaw is clenched as he watches the group before him, hands fisted at his side and Natasha is frozen in spot but the anger is clear in her eyes- all of it directed at the one man in the suit.

"W-who is that?" Caroline finally asks from the doorway, pointing out the man in question since they haven't noticed the two newcomers.

Pepper finally gets her bearings, gaze following Caroline's direction only to gasp in shock. "Phil?" His name is spoken softly but it still startles the arguing people into silence. Hand flying up to her mouth, tears immediately fill Pepper's eyes. "Agent Coulson?!"

"Whoa," Caroline mutters. "Coulson? Coulson, _Coulson?!_" she asks incredulously. "As in the agent whose death brought all these people together?" she waves frantically at the Avengers. At everyone's nod, her gaze snaps back to the supposed dead man. "How are you alive?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Natasha finally speaks, the muscle in her cheek ticking in her anger.

Caroline and Pepper slowly enter the room, cautious with every gaze trained on them and every gaze that isn't.

"Caroline?" the man who everyone claims is Phil asks. "Dr. Forbes?"

Even though he's angry, Tony snorts out, "Yeah. _Right._", and earns a glare in return from Caroline before she settles her attention back on Phil.

"Can't be," the guy in tactical gear assesses her. "She's just a kid."

And feeling a bit self-conscious, Caroline tugs at the ribbon bow tied at her waist. "Looks can be deceiving, Mr.."

"Ward. Agent Ward," he answers.

"Agent Ward," she then finishes. "And no," she turns back to Coulson. "I am Caroline Forbes but I'm no doctor."

Coulson and his team seem to deflate at her answer but he's apparently not finished yet. "You have to be," he nearly pleads and the amount of emotion she can see swimming in his eyes is moments away from making her choked up. "Fury said that you could save Skye when S.H.I.E.L.D's best operated on her and yet said that she's going to die no matter what. You're our last hope. He wouldn't have sent us if you weren't the best."

"I-I'm sorry," she shakes her head. "I'm no doctor but-" she cuts off rather impatiently when the others start getting even more choked up than their leader. "I can help."

"But you just said that you weren't a doctor," the chinese woman narrows her gaze at Caroline's approaching form.

"And like I said, looks can be deceiving."

"Caroline," Steve calls out. "Don't."

"I have to," she frowns at him. "She can die if I don't."

"Don't what?" Agent Ward asks. "What are you going to do?"

"We can't trust them," Clint grits out. "They can't be trusted with this."

Even though she can see that it pains Steve to agree with Clint as the girl lies dying right before their eyes, he does. Steve goes on to say that if Fury couldn't trust them with the knowledge that Coulson was alive, why should they trust him and believe these newcomers can handle her secret? Every other Avenger is agreeing with him, even Pepper. But as Caroline's gaze darts to everyone around the room, she's not liking that she's been put in this position. If Fury sent them to her then was that supposed to mean she could trust them with her secret? She hasn't given Fury any reason to doubt that she could be trusted, nor have her supernatural friends, so they're on good terms as of right now. But even if they can't be trusted after they see what she is and saves their friend, the Avengers can easily hold the fort down while she compels them one by one.

"How long does she have?" Caroline suddenly blurts.

"Not long," a distinctive British accent replies. "She started to seize right before we brought her down."

"Can you spare less than two minutes?"

"Y-yes," the same girl answers.

"You can't be serious?!" Clint then explodes.

"I'm serious," Caroline gulps. "All of you," she points to the Tower's residents. "-over there. And you," she then points to all the newcomers. "-over there. I need to speak privately with these goobers and then I'll help your friend." As everyone moves to opposite sides of the room, there's a lot of angry- yet quiet angry- ranting from Clint and Tony but Caroline only has eyes for the newcomers. "I'm pretty sure you all know who Doctor Banner is so don't do anything stupid."

Coulson assures her that they won't and as Caroline turns her back, she's met with a lot of angry stares. "I know, I know," she sighs quietly so only their group can hear. "But we can't just let her die. Look at her! She looks so young."

"As someone once said, looks can be deceiving," Tony throws her words back in her face.

"Oh, shut up, Stark." He dramatically gasps and draws back in offense but Caroline's quick to pull him back in. "Look, Fury has no reason to send bad people to us. If he trusts them, I'll somewhat trust them. Sure, they'll freak out but that's why Natasha has a gun and several knives hidden on her. The moment they take aim, you take aim right back. If they really want their friend alive, they'll let me do my thing. And if they're still sketchy afterward, I compel them to forget this ever happened. It's as easy as that."

"I still don't like it," Steve grumbles. "I mean, why the secret about Coulson?"

"I don't know but are you really going to take your grudge against Fury and Coulson out on an innocent girl?" Caroline mutters. "If you're really that upset, strike a deal; her life for answers. I can help her clean up when she wakes up while all of you take Coulson and get answers from him."

No one argues again though they're still very wary and it's Coulson who interrupts. "Well? Can you save her?"

When no one says anything, Caroline turns around and gives him her most innocent of grins. "I will.. but you have to answer to them," she gestures over her shoulder. "You were their friend- their handler- and you have a lot of explaining to do."

"Y-yes. Anything," Coulson hurriedly nods. "Just, please, save her."

Caroline agrees, her heeled boots clicking against the tiled floor and the hemline of her dress swishing back and forth. She stands at the head of the bed, frowning down at the unconscious girl. "This is going to need to come out," she gestures to the tube. "And I'm going to need someone to massage her throat."

"Simmons," Coulson barks. "You're up."

The girl with the british accent turns out to be Simmons, Caroline smiling fondly at her. "W-why are we taking the tube out? It's the only thing helping her breathe."

"There's a reason Director Fury sent you to me knowing that I'm not a Doctor," she admits with a sigh. "We're gonna need a third person to keep pumping her chest so her heart continues to beat while you massage her throat so she can swallow."

"Swallow what?" Ward asks.

"My blood." The second the words leave Caroline's mouth, the whites of her eyes bleed red and the tiny veins beneath her eyes pulse to life. And parting her lips just so, the tips of her fangs are visible for all to see.

Ward is the first to draw his weapon on Caroline, Natasha freeing hers from out of nowhere and taking aim back at Ward, the chinese woman pulls on Caroline as well, and then Barton's taking aim on the chinese woman in retaliation. Simmons seems to take a few steps back when the curly-haired fellow tugs at the back of her jacket and Natasha easy sidles up to Caroline's side.

"Put the weapons away," Steve finally breaks the shocked silence. "You wanted our help and this is us helping. If you shoot, your friend dies."

"What are you?" Coulson gulps.

"A vampire. Fury sent you to me because vampire blood heals."

"Vampires don't exist. Agent May looks at the Index frequently," Coulson gestures towards the chinese woman. "Vampires aren't on there."

"Because we struck a deal," Natasha says, agent mode on. "Fury knows about her world and the people in it, and in return, Barton, Rogers, and I keep our own Index off of S.H.I.E.L.D's mainframe in case it gets hacked. We protect the information here because should word get out about people like her," she nods at Caroline. "It'll be chaos."

"How do we know you're telling the truth," Ward argues. "How do we know that your blood won't turn her into something else?"

"Because of this," Natasha answers.

She slowly lowers her weapon, letting Barton cover her, and tucks it away in the back waistband of her jeans. Pulling free a dagger from her boot, Natasha straightens up and runs the blade along her forearm. No one wavers as the blood immediately starts to flow and then facing Caroline, all Natasha does is nod before Caroline's biting into her wrist and offering the bleeding wound to her friend.

Everyone who hadn't seen the blood exchange happen before cringes, and Barton's nose crinkles in distaste as he keeps his eyes on Ward and May. "I hate it when she does that," he grumbles and Tony nods in agreement. "You can hear the popping of flesh when her fangs penetrate."

Caroline huffs a laugh, her fangs showing more as her smile widens and watches as Natasha latches her mouth around the fang marks. She takes a quick pull of blood before pulling back, letting everyone see her self inflicted wound now closing up. "See? Like Caroline said, vampire blood heals."

There's a moment of awed silence before Coulson tells his team to stand down. If Natasha- the Black Widow of all people- trusted this blonde enough to drink her blood then she really could be trusted to help Skye. "Simmons, help Miss Forbes with whatever she needs."

This time around, Simmons doesn't look as scared as before, her fear now replaced by curiosity and determination. Natasha doesn't bother wiping the blood from her arm, she stepping up to the other side of the bed and telling them she'll keep the girl's heart beating while they force the blood down her throat.

"Skye. Her name is Skye," Simmons suddenly states. "And I'm Jemma and that one over there is Fitz. You've heard everyone else's name."

Natasha merely blinks at the girl, Caroline having to be the friendly one here. "Well, it's nice to meet you Jemma and friends. Now, why don't you take out the tube as carefully as you can and we'll get started."

Jemma takes a deep breath and moves closer to Skye's unconscious form, shaky hands working on pulling out the tube. The second it's out, Natasha starts chest compressions and Caroline quickly bites into her wrist. There's more cringing at the sound of fangs penetrating flesh but they go ignored in favor of saving a life. Wrist now placed directly above Skye's mouth, Caroline gives a terse nod and Jemma starts massaging her friend's throat. One second, there's no indication that anything's working and the next, Skye's coughing and moving her head side to side.

"Don't, Skye," Caroline tells her. "We're here to help," she says as Skye continues to struggle. "You need to stop fighting and just drink. Two to three good gulps and then you can stop."

Jemma's eyes swim with tears, moving back when she can feel Skye's throat contracting beneath her fingers and then Coulson's moving forward. "Do as she says, Skye. If you don't drink, you'll die."

At the sound of Coulson's voice, Skye surprisingly stops struggling and Caroline's vampire visage finally bleeds away. "Good, good." she coos. "Just once more."

She can hear as Skye gulps once more and then Caroline's pulling her wrist away. The second Skye's eyes flutter open, there's a collective sigh of relief from her team and then tears of joy from Jemma as she chuckles uncontrollably.

"Ugh, what was that?" Skye rasps.

Skye's team is quick to surround her and Natasha's quick to pull Caroline aside. Steve hands Natasha a piece of cloth to clean her arm and then he's tucking Caroline safely under his arm and pressing a kiss to her temple as they watch Skye become more alert.

"Did I do the right thing?" she asks quietly.

"I guess we'll find out soon," Steve replies.

Caroline sighs, watching as Skye attempts to sit up and her team argue back and forth about what she can and should not be doing. With her arm sneaking behind Steve's back and settling around his lower back, Caroline grins at the lot of them.

"She can move, you know. She'll be sore and tired but the blood has done it's job."

"Wh-what was that?"

Skye pushes herself up, propping herself up with her elbows and staring at all the new people in the room. And Caroline being Caroline, she waves somewhat sheepishly at the wary stare. "Hi! I'm Caroline. You're currently at Stark Tower where I just saved your life."

"Ookaayyy.."

"Yeah, so you and your team might want to consider taking a few days off and recuperate here while my blood is still in your system."

"Y-your what?" Skye's eyes widen and then looks to her team. "Did she just say her blood?!"

"She did," Coulson assures her. "Apparently, Miss Forbes is a vampire and vampire blood heals."

Against all possibility, Skye's eyes widen even further. "You're joking."

"I wish he were," Ward sighs. "We witnessed everything. It was kind of creepy."

"Oh. Okay."

Skye easily believes what she's been told but it's May- Agent May- who now seems skeptical of Caroline. "Why would we stay here while your blood is in her system? Is there a side-effect you didn't warn us about?"

"Yes.. and no." All eyes turn on Caroline, she pressing herself further into Steve's side.

"Ease up," Tony huffs. "Little Bit saved your Little Bit's life. You should be thanking her."

"Not before she tells us what exactly is going on."

Tony rolls his eyes but let's Caroline retake the floor, she gulping rather nervously. "If killed before my blood can leave her system, she'll wake up in transition where she can choose to either become a vampire or die."

"And you didn't think to tell us?!"

"Is was either let her drink or die, Agent May," Coulson surprisingly lays a hand on his Agent's shoulder and cutting off any rant the Agent could have possibly spewed. Turning his attention back to Caroline, he too sighs. "How long until your blood leaves her system?"

"Don't know," she shrugs. "A few days, at most. It's better if you just relax and let her get back on her feet without enemies looking to take you out."

"_Her _is right here," Skye grumbles. "And I really don't care where we relax but I really need a shower."

"You can do that here," Caroline perks up. "I've got spare clothes and a shower that has to be better than what you've got on the plane. You and your team can follow me up to my floor while Coulson goes with my team to explain a few things."

Steve and Ward seem like the only two who don't really like the idea, but Natasha and Clint are already striding out of the room with a heated glare thrown in Coulson's direction.

"And that's our cue," Tony smirks. "Little Bit, you take whoever wants to accompany their friend and we'll go get our answers from the zombie agent."

"No duh. That's exactly just what I suggested."

Tony has to resist the urge to stick his tongue out at Caroline, and then Pepper's following Tony out of the room as well as Bruce, a reluctant Steve, and Agent May. Clapping her hands together, Caroline's faced with Agents Ward, Fitz, Simmons, and Skye. "Right. So. Let's go get that shower, huh?"

**XxX**

Caroline nervously flits about her kitchen, trying to keep herself busy and be a good hostess. Agents Ward, Simmons, and Fitz are all somewhat relaxed in the living room as Skye showers in Caroline's bathroom with every door wide open in case she needed to holler for help. She had tried telling them that JARVIS would alert them if Skye needed any assistance but the team just felt better if there were no closed doors between them.

So the doors stayed open and Caroline was the only one who had ears to listen in to Skye moaning in appreciation for Stark and his tendency to spend money on the simplest of things like a shower.

"So would you guys like anything to drink?" she finally asks when the silence becomes too much. "I have beer, water, gatorades, and soda."

Fitz and Simmons seem to fidget in place, gazes darting between each other and then to their friend Ward before Ward finally acknowledges her. "Beer would be good."

"You got it." She takes four beers out of the refrigerator and casually walks over to the group, handing them out and taking a seat with her own beer in hand. Caps are twisted off and everyone's sipping their drink, Caroline finding the bottle's label very interesting as she asks, "So what's the deal with Coulson? What's the big secret to his miraculous recovery?" Ward, Fitz, and Simmons all freeze- the three of them glancing at Caroline and not saying a word. "Really?" she huffs. "I let you in on my secret- which is highly classified, by the way- and you won't tell me what's going on with your guy? It's not like they're not going to tell me anyway."

"Classified?" Fitz sits up a little straighter. "How classified are we talking here? We're only levels six and sevens!"

"I'm talking classified as in the only people who know about my secret are those that were in the medical wing earlier and Director Fury. It's _that _classified."

Fitz and Simmons gape at Caroline's admission, and Ward calmly takes a gulp of his beer before relaxing in his seat. "We're not even sure what went on with Coulson," he admits finally. "Director Fury is keeping everything under wraps but all we know is that he apparently moved heaven and earth to bring Coulson back from the dead. Coulson himself is still fighting with the Director to get specifics but Fury keeps sending us on mission after mission to keep us busy."

"Wow."

"So whatever it is your friends are hoping to hear, it won't be much."

"Looks like it," Caroline mutters, not trying to argue since she can hear the steady beat of his heart as he tells her the truth. "Just so you know, he might have a black eye or two when we head back up there. I met everyone after the battle and it took them a while to open up about agent Coulson. Even though you wouldn't be able to tell, they were pretty torn up over his death."

"We understand," Ward answers for his fellow friends. "If we were in their position, we'd be pretty pissed to. Coulson's a good man and it's easy to get attached."

"Understandable," Caroline finally smiles, some of the tension finally melting away. "Everyone upstairs- the Avengers and Pepper- they're my people now. If anyone attacks them, I'm not afraid to snap a few necks or rip out a throat or two."

Lips twitching, Ward takes a sip of drink. "I have a feeling you're actually being honest."

"Yeah, well, some assholes took out Rogers and Stark, and then were about to kill Ms. Potts. In my anger, it got a bit bloody."

"You're joking!" Fitz' Scottish accent catches Caroline off guard but she smiles nonetheless.

"Nope. That's how Stark, Ms. Potts, and Steve found out my secret. I kept it hidden but the second they were in danger, I threw caution to the wind."

"That is some serious loyalty," Skye's voice catches everyone off guard. They all turn towards her voice, watching as she scrubs a towel through her hair and looking as healthy as can be. "Nice joint, by the way. Stark really knows how to decorate."

"It was Pepper, actually."

"Hmm." Skye walks around the living room; Ward, Simmons, and Fitz all seconds away from leaping from their seats the second she shows signs of fatigue. "And thanks for the clothes. I had some on The Bus so it wasn't really-"

"Don't bother," Caroline's quick to cut her off. Skye's wearing a scoop neck, cap sleeve tee with a metallic chest print of a skull. Dark denim skinny jeans hug her legs and black lace-up combat boots adorn her feet. "Stark and Nat treat me like their adopted daughter-slash-sister. Tony keeps trying to lure me into the dark side- hence the dark clothing and boots- and Natasha likes to buy me lingerie from all over the world. My closet and drawers are bursting with clothes I've yet to wear so it really doesn't hurt to give away one outfit and a pair of boots."

"S-Stark," Skye stammers. "Did you say Stark bought this?"

"Mhm."

"And agent Romanoff?" Ward gulps. "The same agent who makes the younger agents tremble with fear; she buys you lingerie?"

"Yep. But if you tell anyone that, agent Romanoff will make you pay."

"Noted," he agrees immediately.

Skye laughs and takes a seat as if nothing is amiss, and that makes Caroline feel even more comfortable around these four. She wants to know why they're taking everything so great and not freaking out- even if Fitz and Simmons keep looking as if they have a million questions- but then she remembers that they're S.H.I.E.L.D. They deal with aliens and sorcery so really, vampirism shouldn't be all that surprising.

Caroline sees Skye eyes everyone's beer but before she can ask if she wants one, her phone starts to ring. And since her phone is sitting on the edge of the coffee table that closest to Skye, the young girl picks it up and her eyes widen.

"W-why is Director Fury calling you?"

Caroline shrugs and reaches for her phone when Skye leans forward to hand it to her; the vampire not caring for privacy and answering the phone only to immediately put it on speaker. But before she can even say hello, Fury's voice seems to make everyone tense up.

"_Did they show up?"_

"Why, hello, Nicholas. How are you? I'm great." Fury doesn't respond but Caroline does pick up on Fitz' hushed _I think she has a death wish. _When Fitz catches Caroline's gaze, she winks at him with a laugh. "Yes, your agents showed up. Thanks for the warning, by the way. It'd have been great to know I was going to have to out myself to a bunch of people."

"_Coulson's a good man, Forbes. Trustworthy and good at keeping secrets. He won't tell a soul and neither would his team."_

"Is he as good at keeping secrets as you are? Tell me, Nicholas, how did you bring a dead guy back to life?"

Skye starts immediately choking on nothing but air, she trying to stifle it with a couch pillow when Fitz and Simmons start shushing her.

"_You're a pain in my ass, Forbes. Stop calling me Nicholas and get back to work."_

"Aye, aye, Nick!"

The audible click of Fury ending the phone call makes Caroline laugh out loud, she gently setting her phone down on the coffee table before her and continuing to drink her beer as if she hadn't just called the most intimidating man by his first name.

"You really do have a death wish," Skye voices, her eyes then darting down to Caroline's beer in hand, forgetting about the phone call right away. "Can I have one of those without interfering with your blood?" her nose then scrunches up in distaste as the words leave her mouth.

"Yeah, no, you're good." Caroline tells her. "Beer's in the fridge."

Skye hops to her feet, smile in place as she goes to retrieve herself a drink. "She really is healed, isn't she?" Simmons asks. "Your blood really did heal her."

"Sure did and by the look in your eye, you want know how."

"Guilty," she sheepishly laughs. "I'm a scientists and this just-"

"Goes against everything you believe in. I know; Dr. Banner said the same thing," Caroline grins. "But I have to tell you, Jemma, Dr. Banner ran every test he could think of and nothing. It all ties back to magic."

"Magic?" Fitz squeaks. "Magic doesn't-"

"It does. Vampires, witches, werewolves, hybrids, and travellers- which is just a modern take on gypsies- all exist. Looks like your stay here will be full of interesting tid-bits," Caroline waggles her eyebrows. "And if you up your game in who can be the biggest fanboy and fangirl, I'm sure Stark and Banner will give you a tour of their public labs. Just don't be to forward with Banner! He spooks easily."

Fitz and Simmons blush under Caroline's stare but before she can make them any more uncomfortable or let them ask how she even knew they were the brains of the group, Caroline's turning her attention to Skye and Ward. "What do you say we head upstairs now? If what you said is true and not even Coulson knows anything then it should be all clear."

"_You would be correct, Miss Caroline," _JARVIS butts in. _"It appears Sir Stark has broke out his most expensive alcohol and is passing out drinks."_

"Without me?" she gasps in mock offense the same time Fitz asks, "Holy crap, is that Stark's A.I?"

Simmons looks to be in as much awe as Fitz is in, and Skye and Ward are just really amused by everything going on around them.

"Whatever. Let's go crash their party. JARVIS, will you please alert them we're on our way up?"

"_As you wish, Miss Caroline."_

"Ten bucks on Coulson nursing one side of his face. Barton can't control his anger like Romanoff can," Caroline says as they start standing one by one.

"Twenty says May defended," Skye gets in on the bet.

"Fifty on the Black Widow handing them all their asses."

"You're on."

Fitz and Simmons stand at the back of the elevator, shaking their heads in exasperation as Ward, Skye, and Caroline keeping upping the amount of their bet.

**XxX**

As it turns out, Ward ends up winning a little over a hundred and fifty dollars combined from Skye and Caroline. Coulson's secret had resulted in a bit of a scuffle, Clint being the one to lash out at his ex-handler. Agent May, of course, defended her friend just as Natasha defended her partner from the other female agent. But the moment Clint got a little too smug about Natasha punching May across the face, Natasha punched him too for attacking Coulson.

Yes, it sucked he kept the secret but he was only following orders like he always did. If they were going to be angry, Fury deserved their anger. Not Coulson.

So with that being said, all the Avengers sans Bruce took a trip to visit Fury while everyone settled in at the Tower thanks to Pepper and Caroline. They had been gone for hours and when they had finally come back, no one seemed in the mood to talk and locked themselves away in their respective rooms.

Even though Caroline ached to go to Steve, she settled for sending him a text and tending to their guests for dinner seeing as Pepper had scampered off after Tony.

* * *

In the days that The Bus members stayed at the Tower, they mostly found themselves congregating in the gym during the evening hours.

Tony and Bruce not-so-surprisingly played in their labs with Fitz and Simmons, agent May found out why Coulson was quite fond of Ms. Potts, Clint and Natasha and Steve caught up with Coulson, and Skye got a front row seat in seeing everything Caroline was capable of when Ward got the vampire to spar with him.

After being assured that their secret was safe with them, Caroline showed them how fast she was, how strong she was, and how well she could actually fight. The heels and skirts were quite lovely to wear, and it was just an added bonus that it threw people off of her true abilities.

And when Caroline wasn't sparring with Ward, she was kicking her feet up with Skye and watching her new friend attempt to hack empty documents on Stark's mainframe that JARVIS had set up for the hacker to practice her skills on when she got restless.

"So, you tapping that or what?"

"Excuse me?"

Skye laughs at Caroline's expression, the dark-haired girl gesturing in Steve's direction where he was watching Natasha and Ward spar with one another. "Come on, you can tell me. Are you defiling our national icon behind closed doors or not?"

Caroline snorts, biting her lip to keep in the sudden laughter. "Why do you wanna know?"

Skye matches Caroline's lip biting, shrugging her shoulders before looking out towards Steve. "I just do. Steve's a good looking guy, you're a good looking gal, and I'm in desperate need of some good 'ol fashioned girl talk. It's just not the same with agents May and Simmons."

Caught in an honest and vulnerable moment, Caroline can't help but be honest. "Yes," she mumbles. "Steve and I are dating."

"Nice," Skye immediately drawls out, forming a fist and holding it out for Caroline to bump with her own fist.

She does, finally laughing and relaxing once more. "At least you took it better than Tony. He actually bought us a cake that said _Congratulations on the Sex _and was moments away from throwing us a party but I threatened to bite him. Fangs and all."

"Oh my God, how are you even real?" Skye laughs. "I would have never pegged an actual vampire to be as cool as you. No offense."

"Yeah, well.." Caroline bashfully grins, internally preening under Skye's awe of her.

"And just so you know, your relationship with the Captain is safe with me. I'm afraid if Coulson ever found out, he'd be offended on behalf of America and try to break you up."

Caroline barks out a laugh, earning several curious stares but snaps her mouth shut when she realizes that Coulson's one of them. "I heard about that," she mumbles as she waves innocently at Coulson before turning her attention back to Skye- Skye who's trying her damnedest to stifle her laughter but not doing so well in that department. "Steve and Nat told me how Coulson went all fanboy and talked about his collectible cards. They were surprised he didn't swoon." Skye's eyes widen, even more laughter escaping her but Caroline keeps going. "Maybe I should convince Steve to don the new suit? I mean, if Coulson was a fanboy before, he should see all the upgrades. I think I've saluted Steve's ass at least seventeen times when he wasn't looking."

Laughing even harder, Skye covers her face and sinks down in the bleachers. "Shut up, shut up! You're gonna make someone walk over here to see what we're talking about."

Across the gym, Steve walks over to Coulson, arms crossed over his chest as the senior agent watches Skye and Caroline.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Steve asks.

"I don't know," Coulson remarks, eyes glued on the hysterically laughing girls. "But I have a feeling we're going to regret them ever meeting."

* * *

**End.**

**I'd like to think that before The Bus crew left, Stark tells them to drop by when they're mission free. So yes, they might or might not pop back up in the official sequel for Young Blood that will be called "No One's Here To Sleep". Be on the look out for that!**


End file.
